Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. USA
Vol. 87, pp. 7255-7259, September 1990
Medical Sciences
Genetic and physical map of the von Recklinghausen
neurofibromatosis (NFl) region on chromosome 17
(genetic linkage/long-range physical mapping/hereditary disease)
M. K. YAGLE*, G. PARRUTI*t, W. Xu*, B. A. J. PONDERt, AND E. SOLOMON*
*Somatic Cell Genetics Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX, United Kingdom; and tCRC Human Cancer
Genetics Research Group, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, CB2 1QP, United Kingdom
Communicated by Walter F. Bodmer, June 11, 1990 (received for review April 20, 1990)
ABSTRACT The von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis 1 MATERIALS AND METHODS
(NFI) locus has been previously assigned to the proximal long
arm of chromosome 17, and two NF1 patients have been Cell Lines. KLT8, PLT6B, and PLT8 are CMGTs contain-
identified who have constitutional balanced translocations in- ing fragments of chromosome 17 (10). PCTBA1.8 (11) is a
volving 17q11.2. We have constructed a cosmid library from a chromosome 17-only hybrid and PJT2/A1 (12) is a hybrid
chromosome-mediated gene transfectant, KLTS, that contains containing the 15q+ t(15;17)(q21;qll.2-12) chromosome
approximately 10% of chromosome 17, including 17q11.2. from an acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patient. TriD62
Cosmids isolated from this library have been mapped across a is a hybrid containing 17q (13). The two NFI parental lines
panel of somatic cell hybrids, including the hybrids from the t(1;17)(p34.3;qll.2) (6) and t(17;22)(qll.2;qll.2) (7) and two
two patients, and have been localized to seven small regions of hybrids derived from them (7, 14) were kindly provided by
proximal 17q. We have 5 cosmids that map directly above the David Ledbetter (Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX).
two NFI translocations, and 11 cosmids that map directly Conditions for growth of these cells have been described in
below. Of these, 2 cosmids in each region are linked to the the appropriate references.
disease locus and 3 of these cosmids show no recombination. NF1 Families. Linkage was done on a set of 18 British and
One distal cosmid, 2B/B35, detects the two NFI translocations South African families with NF1. Families ICR01-08, -11,
by pulsed-field gel analysis and has been used to produce a -12, -15, and -17 through -20 have been reported (15); families
long-range restriction map that covers the translocations. ICR22, -24, and -25 are three further families of British origin.
The diagnostic criteria for NF1 were those described (16, 17).
Von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is one of the Lod scores, recorded in Table 1, were calculated using the
most common dominantly inherited disorders in man with an program LINKAGE, version 4.7 (18).
estimated frequency of 1/3000 and a high proportion of new DNA Preparation. DNA was prepared for Southern blot
mutations, estimated between 30 and 50%o (1). Its expression analysis and the cosmid library by the standard phenol
is extremely variable, even within affected families, and extraction procedure (19), with care taken to ensure that the
ranges from minor skin manifestations (e.g., cafe-au-lait DNA for the cosmid library remained very high molecular
spots) to severely disabling and sometimes lethal neurolog- weight. DNA was prepared for PFGE analysis from cultured
ical tumors. Linkage of this disorder to markers on proximal cells that were resuspended with an equal volume of 1.2%
17q has been demonstrated (2, 3) and linked flanking markers low-melting-point agarose to a concentration of 0.5, 0.75, or
have been defined (4, 5). As with several other dominantly 1.0 x 106 cells per insert and processed according to the
inherited tumor-forming syndromes (e.g., retinoblastoma or published protocol of Herrmann et al. (20).
adenomatous polyposis coli), it seemed likely that NF1 might Library Preparation. High molecular weight DNA pre-
be the result of mutations in a tumor-suppressor gene. pared from the KLT8 hybrid was partially digested with Mbo
However, there are as yet no reports of loss of heterozygosity I and dephosphorylated with calf intestine alkaline phospha-
in NF1 for markers close to the NFI locus. tase to prevent religation of noncontiguous DNA fragments.
The finding of two individuals with NF1 carrying different Vector pCos8 (A. Craig, personal communication) was pre-
constitutional balanced reciprocal translocations with breaks pared by cleaving between the two cos sites with Pvu II,
at 17q11.2 (6, 7) strongly suggested that the region of these dephosphorylating the ends, and cutting at the BamHI site,
translocations would contain the NFI gene. Probes that map which created cohesive ends with Mbo I. The vector and
close to the translocations have been used to make long-range insert DNA were then ligated with T4 DNA ligase and
maps of this region (8, 9). By using a chromosome-mediated packaged in Gigapack Gold (Stratagene) as recommended by
gene transfectant (CMGT), KLT8, containing about 10% of the supplier. The packaged mix was adsorbed onto ED8767
chromosome 17, including the NFl region (10), we have cells and plated out onto Hybond-N filters (Amersham) on
isolated cosmids flanking the NFI translocations. Restriction agar containing L broth and kanamycin at 50 gg/ml. The
fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in these cosmids resulting 5 x 105 colonies were screened with total human
have allowed us to map them by genetic linkage. Our closest DNA, and 250 of the approximate 2000 positive colonies were
probe lies distal to the translocations and has no recombi- picked for further characterization.
nants with NFI. It contains a CpG-rich island and has been PFGE. All pulsed-field gels were electrophoresed on the
used by analysis of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) LKB 2015 Pulsaphor system with a hexagonal electrode. Gels
results to define a long-range restriction map covering the of 1% agarose in 0.25x TBE were electrophoresed at 170 V.
( x TBE = 90 mM Tris/64.6 mM boric acid/2.5 mM EDTA,
translocations that differ from the published maps (27). In this
paper we present the genetic linkage data on our flanking
probes and our physical map of the translocation region. Abbreviations: NF1, von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis 1;
CMGT, chromosome-mediated gene transfectant; RFLP, restriction
fragment length polymorphism; PFGE, pulse-field gel electrophore-
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge sis; APL, acute promyelocytic leukemia.
payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" tPresent address: Instituto di Biologia e Genetica, Universita Degli
in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. Studi "G. D'Annunzio," Chieti, Italy.
7255
7256 Medical Sciences: Yagle
NFl
APL
et al.
APL t ft1 F1 ~ ~H 2O
1~~~~~~~E 2
3,
5
|
--- - -
REGION
6 RNU2NF-
-
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87 (1990)
3
- --
D 17S22
-
2BB3
-
THRAI.ERBB2
-
COSMIDS
-
No. of
-
13
1
-
- X\%5 ~~~~~~~~~4 EPB3
FIG. 1. Cosmids from a KLT8 library were mapped on a panel ofchromosome 17 CMGTs and translocation hybrids. Chromosome 17 is shown
4
with the NFI region enlarged. The following five human-mouse hybrids were used in the panel. Bars: 1, PCTBA1.8, chromosome 17-only (11);
2, TriD62, chromosome 17q-only, (17qll.2-qter) (13); 3, DCR-1, an NFI translocation hybrid, t(1;17)(p34.3;qll.2) (5); 4, NF13, an NFI
translocation hybrid, t(17;22)(qll.2;qll.2) (14); 5, PJT2/A1, an APL hybrid l5q+, t(15;17)(q22;qll.2-12) (12). In the three translocation hybrids
only one of the translocation products and no normal chromosome 17 was retained. The following three CMGTs were used in the panel. Bars:
6, KLT8, the CMGT from which the library was made; 7, PLT6B, contains markers that flank NFI but does not span the APL breakpoint; 8,
PLT8 contains the area of the TKI locus. Designation of regions 1-6 defined by these hybrids and CMGTs with the markers that are known
to map to these regions and the number of cosmids from the KLT8 library that have been isolated in them are shown. The D-numbers of the
cosmids mapping to these regions are as follows: D17S136-140 in region 2A, D17S141-150 and -159 in region 2B, D17S151-158 and -160-164
in region 3, D17S166, -167, -174, and -175 in region 4, and D17S181-198 in region 5.
pH 8.3.) Periods of electrophoresis were 30-36 hr with a chromosome 17, from dot-blot analysis, and to contain the
100-sec pulse or 24-30 hr with a 45-sec pulse. NFI region. Human clones from this library were mapped
Southern Blots. Gels were blotted onto Hybond-N in 20 x against a panel of hybrids containing fragments of chromo-
SSC (lx SSC = 0.15 M NaCl/0.015 M sodium citrate, pH some 17 from constitutional rearrangements, leukemic rear-
7.0) or Hybond-N + in 0A M NaOH as recommended in the rangements, hybrids with random breaks, and CMGTs. With
protocols provided by Amersham. this panel we were able to divide the proximal portion of 17q
Labeling of Probes. Whole cosmids were used as probes for (17cen-ql2) into seven regions. Fig. 1 shows a diagram of this
RFLPs, as recommended by Sealey et al. (21). Cosmid DNA panel with the seven regions and the number of cosmids
was linearized by digesting with BamHI, and 60 ng was used clones mapped to each region. Previously mapped markers in
in the random-primer labeling method as described by Fein- this region of chromosome 17 are also shown (23). Our results
berg and Vogelstein (22). The labeled probes were separated place CRYBI in region 1 and HHH202 distal in region 2A.
from the unincorporated radionucleotides by using spun Regions 2A and 2B flank the NFI translocations, with region
column chromatography (29). The probe was boiled for 10 2B defined by 11 of our cosmids but no previously mapped
min with 100 ,ug of human placental DNA (Sigma) in a total genes. Regions 3 and 4 flank the t(15;17) translocation found
volume of 400 ,ul, placed on ice for 3 min, and incubated at in APL, with region 3 containing THRAI, ERBB2, and CSF3.
65°C for 3-5 hr. The probe was added to 10 ml of prewarmed Region 4 contains 4 of our cosmids but no previously assigned
hybridization fluid and added to the filters that had been markers. Region 5 contains the erythrocyte surface protein
prehybridized overnight with human placental DNA (50 band 3 EPB3 (24) and region 6 has RNU2. The two hybrids
Ag/ml). containing the NF1 translocations (1;17 and 17;22) contain
For pulsed-field gel analysis, nonrepetitive fragments were the TK-selected portion of chromosome 17; that is, chromo-
isolated from the cosmids. The probes were incubated for 2-3 some 17 from the breakpoint at 17q11.2 to 17qter. These
hr as above, and prehybridization was done on new filters translocations are indicated by the same line in Fig. 1 (bar 3,
only. Although the probes were nonrepetitive, as judged by 4), although they are not identical.
their lack of hybridization to total human DNA, it was found Five cosmids were isolated in region 2A, 11 cosmids were
that the signal-to-noise ratio was improved by incubating the isolated in region 2B, and these cosmids were screened for
probes as above. RFLPs by using whole cosmids as probes. Polymorphisms
were detected in 6 cosmids, and, in all cases, both allele
RESULTS frequencies were high and the probes were generally infor-
mative in the NF1 families. Fragments detecting the RFLPs
A series of somatic cell hybrids containing fragments of were subcloned into pUC8 or pBluescript for further use.
chromosome 17 was produced by chromosome-mediated Five of these cosmids, 2 from region 2A and 3 from region 2B,
gene transfer (10). One of these, KLT8, was used to construct were used in genetic linkage studies on 18 NF1 families, and
a cosmid library, as it was known to contain about 10% of these results are presented in Table 1. Both cosmids in region
Table 1. Pairwise lod scores for NFI and KLT8 cosmids
Recombination fraction (0)
Cosmid 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.30 0.40 i
2B/A28 -00 2.05 2.42 2.38 2.17 1.45 0.56 2.43 0.12
2A/A34 4.53 4.03 3.53 3.02 2.50 1.45 0.49 4.52 0.00
2B/B35 4.25 3.89 3.52 3.11 2.69 1.75 0.72 4.25 0.00
2B/B412 0.89 0.79 0.70 0.60 0.51 0.33 0.17 0.88 0.00
2A/D218 5.34 4.90 4.43 3.92 3.38 2.20 0.90 5.33 0.00
2, maximum lod score; 0, recombination fraction at 9. Cosmids detected polymorphisms with the following enzymes and
allele frequencies: 2B/A28 with BamHI, al/a2 = 0.7/0.3; 2A/A34 with Pst I, 0.8/0.2; 2B/B35 with Sph 1, 0.4/0.6; 2B/B412
with Msp I, 0.65/0.35; 2A/D218 with BgI II, 0.35/0.65. lod scores were calculated using the program LINKAGE, version 4.7
(18).
Medical Sciences: Yagle et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87 (1990) 7257
I II III
0
z C BH HE BE BE
as
- I II II I I ii
%.
- 1 kb
l
R
B=BamH I
A NN A C=Cla I
E=EcoR I
Bs M H=Hind I11
A=Sma I N=Not I
Bs=BssH II R=Nar I -0.1 kb
M=Mlu I S=Sac 11
FIG. 2. Map of cosmid 2B/B35 (D17S145) showing the rare-cutting enzyme sites around the CpG-rich island. Two Sac 1I sites near the Not
I sites are not shown. The three probes used to map the cosmid on the mapping panel and pulsed-field gels are shown above the cosmid.
2A, 2A/A34 and 2A/D218, are linked to NF) at 0% recom- I (data not shown), suggesting that the altered bands are not
bination with maximum lod scores of 4.5 and 5.3, respec- due to restriction site polymorphisms. A restriction map of
tively. One cosmid in region 2B, 2B/A28, is linked at 12% this cosmid clone is shown in Fig. 2. 2B/B35 contains
recombination, a considerable distance from the disease restriction sites for a series of rare-cutting enzymes, including
locus. Two other cosmids in region 2B show no recombina- Not I, Sac II, and BssHII. Double digests of genomic DNA
tion with NFI; 2B/B35 has a lod score of 4.3 and 2B/B412 with HindIII plus each of these enzymes gave the expected
has a low maximum lod score of 0.9. bands with probes I and II (defined in Fig. 2) from cosmid
Four of the cosmids with no recombinants were then used 2B/B35, indicating that this is a undermethylated CpG-rich
to determine whether any of them could detect an altered island in the genome (data not shown).
band size in the translocation chromosomes compared with Results of PFGE analysis with three enzymes are shown in
the normal chromosome 17 on pulsed-field gels. One of the Fig. 3. Probes I and II, as indicated in Fig. 2, cover the
clones, 2B/B35, from region 2B, distal to both translocations, proximal and distal sides of the Not I sites in the CpG-rich
did indeed detect altered bands in both the translocation island. Probe III is a BamHI fragment on the distal side. As
hybrids and the parental material with several rare-cutting seen in Fig. 3a, probe III detects a 600-kilobase (kb) Nru I
enzymes, including Nru I, Not I, Mlu I, BssHII, and Sac II. band in normal human DNA (lanes 1 and 2) prepared from
No such alterations are seen in blood samples or lympho- lymphoblastoid cell lines. This is the same 600-kb band
blastoid lines from 11 normal individuals with Nru I or Not reported by Fountain et al. (8) to be detected by the linking
a. Probe III b. Probe I c. Probe 11 d. Probe I
z
Z W z C, LU rx
cr m m w M c e m
C m m r > >-
4 m - >. > m m 4 > >
=
< >- 0I I
4J .
0
m < >
4 j L > > .J CL
c:
- - C4_ <: -
Cl C
-.I
- -
N N
: b:
Z
O
0- T- C -
o _ _
-
_
o
- -
Z__ _ - z 6~ = *. -= 7 N _ N N Z
- -I
_@ z
-__ a,
_a-598 kb-_
.-550 kb 1 000 kb -_
.4-441 kb -_
-351 kb- 689 kb-
598 kb_-* *6 as... 550 kb_
441 kb_- 351 kb-_
213 kb-_ Os
92 kb_
92 kb_-rn
FIG. 3. 2B/B35 detects the NFI translocation breakpoints on pulsed-field gels with several enzymes. All gels were electrophoresed with
a hexagonal electrode at 170 V. (a) Nru I digest, 36 hr, 90-sec pulse time. The t(17;22) parental line does not show clean bands on Nru I digests,
presumably due to variations in methylation patterns. (b and c) Not I digests, 30 hr, 45-sec pulse time. (d) Mlu I digest, 32 hr, 90-sec pulse time.
In samples of DNA from normal individuals, the Mlu I band detected by probe I is in the limiting mobility of the gel, >1100 kb.
7258 Medical Sciences: Yagle et al. Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA 87 (1990)
clone 17L1 on the proximal side of the translocations and by DISCUSSION
O'Connell et al. (9) by cli-1F10 on the distal side of the
translocations. The 600-kb band is also seen in the parental The genetic linkage data on NFI indicate that the gene
lymphoid line from the patient carrying the 1;17 translocation responsible for this disease lies in the 17q11.2 region. There
and in addition an altered 350-kb band is seen (lane 3). In the has been no evidence for heterogeneity in the location of this
hybrid containing only the 1;17 translocation and no normal disease. To isolate probes within the NFI region so as to
chromosome 17, only the altered band is seen (lane 4). The eventually identify the NF1 gene, we have taken the ap-
17;22 parental line has consistently shown only faint, rather proach of using libraries from hybrids with small fragments of
than clear, bands when Nru I digests are used; these bands chromosome 17. Our genetic linkage data on probes distal
appear to be at 600 kb and 300 kb. The hybrid containing only and proximal to the disease locus indicate that this approach
the 17;22 translocation clearly shows the 300-kb altered band is extremely efficient. Regions 2A and 2B, defined by
(lane 6). CMGTs, are sufficiently small that four probes isolated at
Fig. 3 b and c shows the same Not I filter probed with random are definitely linked, three with no recombination.
fragments I and II, from each side of the CpG-rich island. In The finding of no recombinants with a probe within 90 kb of
Fig. 3b, by using fragment I, a 350-kb band is seen in the one of the translocations confirms that these translocations
normal DNA (lane 1). The same size band is seen in a must be within a small genetic distance from the gene,
chromosome 17-only hybrid (lane 6). The t(1;17) parental line although the physical distance could still be quite large. To
again shows the normal band as well as an altered band of 550 our knowledge, the probes in region 2B are the first reported
kb (lane 2). Only the altered band is seen in the t(1;17) hybrid probes distal to NFI with no recombinants and along with
(lane 3). Similarly, the t(17;22) parental line shows the normal probes in region 2A should be extremely useful as informa-
band as well as an altered band at 92 kb (lane 4) and the hybrid tive markers in the genetic diagnosis of NF1 in affected
shows only the altered 92-kb band (lane 5). These results families.
demonstrate that there is a Not I site 350 kb proximal to the O'Connell et al. (25) using a similar approach produced a
2B/B35 island and that the two translocation breakpoints lie cosmid library from a microcell hybrid, 7AE-11, and were
between. Fig. 3c shows the same blot probed with fragment also able to isolate a distal clone, cll-iF10, that detected the
II. All digests show a single 92-kb band, indicating that this translocations (9). It is clear that CMGTs, microcell fusion
is the distance to the next Not I site, distal to 2B/B35. Similar hybrids, or x-irradiation hybrids (26) are extremely powerful
blots of BssHII and Sac II digests probed with these same reagents for producing libraries for the isolation of clones
fragments show that these sites are the same distance from from small regions of a chromosome. Caution must always be
2B/B35 on the normal chromosome 17, suggesting that these taken in their use for this purpose, however, as they often
sites are clustered in CpG-rich islands (data not shown). contain small interstitial deletions. This can be seen clearly in
KLT8, which has at least four regions of chromosome 17 that
Fig. 3d shows the results of an Mlu I digest probed with have only become apparent as finer scale mapping has been
fragment I. The band detected in normal DNA and in done. The fact that we find CRYBI proximal to HHH202 is
chromosome 17-only hybrid DNA (lanes 1, 2, and 7) is in the in contradiction to the order found using the microcell fusion
limiting mobility of the gel, at >1100 kb. The parental and hybrids (27). This could be due to another small deletion in
hybrid NFI lines again show an altered band. For t(1;17), this KLT8 or alternatively to a deletion or rearrangement in the
is at 690 kb (lanes 3 and 4) and for the t(17;22) at 80 kb (lanes microcell hybrid. Genetic studies do not clarify this incon-
5 and 6). sistency as neither CRYB1 nor HHH202 shows recombina-
A composite map of the region is shown in Fig. 4 with the tion with NFL.
2B/B35 clone 75-150 kb distal to the 1;17 translocation and Because of the high proportion of new mutations, it is
75-90 kb distal to the 17;22 translocation. We have not yet possible that NFl exists in a wide range of mutational types,
been able to find a rare-cutting enzyme that cuts between the some of them large enough to be detected by PFGE. One
translocation breakpoints and so cannot precisely define the approach to the identification of the gene is, therefore, the
distance between them. As shown, we find no island between screening of NF1 patient DNA with all of the probes in this
the translocation breakpoints and define the next proximal region. As yet there are no reports of positive results using
island as 350 kb away from that defined by B35. We have this approach. Further isolation of probes surrounding the
isolated a linking clone, LCN6F2, with the same restriction translocation and analysis of the expressed sequences for
map as 17L1 and with it the same Not I fragment can be rearrangements and altered expression must eventually un-
detected (J. Borrow and D. Black, personal communication). cover the gene, but whether it will be found directly at the
Centromere 100 kb
S A
S B M S
B t(I;IL7 N C B
M U N " A C \/A N C M,U
,| ~~~t(l7;22) , \
j - - -
350-
-- _90
-- -
\ -_
J
--------------------600 ----------____
2B/B35
B=BssH Il M=MIu I U=Nru I A=Sma I (D17S145)
C=Cla I N=Not I S=Sac II
FIG. 4. Long-range map of the NFI region derived from PFGE analysis, using the three probes from 2B/B35. Not all sites in the cosmid
are shown; see Fig. 2 for a more detailed map. The two NFl translocations have not been precisely localized: The t(1;17) breakpoint is 75-150
kb from the Not I site in 2B/B35 and the t(17;22) breakpoint is 75-90 kb from the same site.
Medical Sciences: Yagle et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87 (1990) 7259
translocations remains unknown. The nature of the gene is of 11. Bai, Y., Sheer, D., Hiorns, L., Knowles, R. W. & Tunnacliffe,
great interest because its mutations result in a wide range of A. (1982) Ann. Hum. Genet. 46, 337-347.
abnormalities of growth and development as well as in tumor 12. Sheer, D., Hiorns, L. R., Stanley, K. F., Goodfellow, P. N.,
formation. The extreme variability of expression of the Swallow, D. M., Povey, S., Heisterkamp, N., Groffen, J.,
mutations both within and between families suggests that Stephenson, J. R. & Solomon, E. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
USA 80, 5007-5011.
different NFl mutations may have different phenotypic ef- 13. Tunnacliffe, A., Parker, M., Povey, S., Bengtsson, B. O.,
fects and also that there are strong genetic or environmental- Stanley, K., Solomon, E. & Goodfellow, P. N. (1983) EMBO J.
modifying effects. With respect to tumor formation, if lack of 2, 1577-1584.
allele loss persists even with the use of further probes in the 14. Menon, A. G., Ledbetter, D. H., Rich, D. C., Seizinger,
region, the mutations would appear to be dominantly acting- B. R., Rouleau, G. A., Michels, V. F., Schmidt, M. A., De-
a situation that, to date, would be unusual among the inher- wald, G., DallaTorre, C. M., Haines, J. L. & Gusella, J. F.
ited cancer syndromes, the only other possible example being (1989) Genomics 5, 245-289.
15. Mathew, C. P. G., Thorpe, K., Easton, D. F., Chin, K. S.,
multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (28). Jadayel, D., Ponder, M., Moore, G., Wallis, C. E., Slater,
C. P., De Jong, G., O'Connell, P., White, R., Barker, D. &
Note Added in Proof. Since this work was accepted for publication the Ponder, B. A. J. (1989) Am. J. Hum. Genet. 44, 38-40.
cloning of the NFl gene has been published and the NFl gene is 16. Mathew, C. G. P., Thorpe, K., Easton, D. F., Carter, C.,
indeed in the region of the translocations (30-32). Wallis, C. F., Wong, Z., Jeffreys, A. J. & Ponder, B. A. J.
(1987) J. Med. Genet. 24, 524-526.
We acknowledge Hans Nicolai for his work on the RFLPs, Steve 17. Wallis, C. F. & Slater, C. P. (1987) S. Afr. Med. J. 72,478-480.
Bryant for running the linkage programs, and Maggie Ponder for 18. Lathrope, G. M. & Lalouel, J.-M. (1984) Am. J. Hum. Genet.
collecting the NF1 families. Dr. Michael Tanner (University of 36, 460-465.
Bristol) has provided the band 3 probe and Ray White (Howard 19. Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F. & Maniatis, T. (1989) Molecular
Hughes Medical Institute, Salt Lake City, UT) has provided the Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Labora-
HHH202 probe. We very much thank David Ledbetter for the NFI tory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY), 2nd Ed., pp. 9.16-9.19.
translocation hybrids and parental lines and Anna-Maria Frischauf 20. Herrmann, B. G., Barlow, D. P. & Lehrach, H. (1987) Cell 48,
for advice and helpful discussion. G.P. was funded by a grant from 813-825.
the Italian Association for Cancer Research. Finally, we thank 21. Sealey, P. G., Whittaker, P. A. & Southern, E. M. (1985)
LINK, the United Kingdom NF patients' association, for help and Nucleic Acids Res. 13, 1905-1922.
support. 22. Feinberg, A. P. & Vogelstein, B. (1984) Anal. Biochem. 137,
266-267.
1. Huson, S. M., Compston, D. A. S., Clark, P. & Harper, P. S. 23. Solomon, E. & Barker, D. F. (1989) Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 51,
(1989) J. Med. Genet. 26, 704-711. 319-337.
2. Barker, D., Wright, E., Nguyen, K., Cannon, L., Fain, P., 24. Tanner, M. J. A., Martin, P. G. & High, S. (1988) Biochem. J.
Goldgar, D., Bishop, D. T., Carey, J., Baty, B., Kilvin, J., 256, 703-712.
Willard, H., Waye, J. S., Greig, G., Leinwand, L., Nakamura, 25. O'Connell, P., Leach, R. J., Ledbetter, D. H., et al. (1989) Am.
Y., O'Connell, P., Leppert, M., Lalouel, J.-M., White, R. & J. Hum. Genet. 44, 51-57.
Skolnick, M. (1987) Science 236, 1100-1102. 26. Cox, D. R., Pritchard, C. A., Uglum, E., Casher, D., Kobori,
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